The Texas power grid is infamously disconnected from the rest of the country. Historically, being an “energy island” has brought advantages for Texas — including expanded renewable power, new transmission infrastructure and operating reliability — as well as disadvantages, such as limited access to backup power during emergencies. The drawbacks of having an isolated grid became especially apparent in February 2021 during Winter Storm Uri, which knocked out power across the state for days, resulting in hundreds of deaths and exposing major reliability concerns.
At this member-exclusive Baker Briefing, nonresident scholar Julie A. Cohn and Baker Institute Rice Faculty Scholar Peter Hartley joined the Honorable David M. Satterfield, director of the Baker Institute, to discuss the changes made to the Texas grid in the two years since the 2021 disaster. Are the improvements made enough to withstand future extreme weather — and prevent another grid collapse?
Follow @BakerInstitute on Twitter and join the conversation online with #BakerBriefing.
About Baker Briefing
Baker Briefing is a podcast that tackles the most critical foreign and domestic policy issues of the day in conversations with experts at the Baker Institute for Public Policy. Hosted by the Honorable David M. Satterfield, director of the Baker Institute, each episode is recorded in front of a live audience at Rice University in Houston, Texas.
Agenda
4:00 pm CST — Member Reception (Baker Roundtable and Energy Forum)
4:30 pm CST — Discussion
Registration
This event was free and open to Baker Roundtable members, Energy Forum members and undergraduate students through the link in their email invitation. To attend future member-exclusive events, contact the Baker Institute development office at roundtable@rice.edu.
Featured Speakers
Julie A. Cohn, Ph.D.
Nonresident Scholar, Baker Institute; Research Historian, Center for Public History, University of Houston
Peter R. Hartley, Ph.D.
Baker Institute Rice Faculty Scholar; George A. Peterkin Professor of Economics, Rice University
The Honorable David M. Satterfield
Director, Baker Institute and Edward P. Djerejian Center for the Middle East; Former Ambassador to Lebanon and Turkey
